SAN FRANCISCO, April 25 (UPI) -- Lucasfilm issued a statement Friday to clarify the Star Wars Expanded Universe's role in future films.

Production on Star Wars: Episode VII has begun, and speculation about the subject matter of future films has run rampant among fans for months. The Star Wars Extended Universe includes all comic books, novels, video games, etc. not directly produced by Lucasfilm -- material that covers thousands of years of history. On the contrary, official projects cover mere decades -- essentially, the lifespan of Anakin Skywalker.

"While Lucasfilm always strived to keep the stories created for the EU consistent with our television and film content...[George Lucas] always made it clear that he was not beholden to the EU," the production company wrote Friday on their website. "He set the [six Star Wars] films he created as the canon... These stories are the immovable objects of Star Wars history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align."

"Now, with an exciting future filled with new cinematic installments of Star Wars, all aspects of Star Wars storytelling moving forward will be connected," Lucasfilm continues. "Star Wars Episodes VII-IX will not tell the same story told in the post-Return of the Jedi Expanded Universe."

"While the universe that readers knew is changing, it is not being discarded," the company asserts. Lucasfilm will incorporate some elements of the EU, such as The Inquisitor and the Imperial Security Bureau, but plans to align all future films with the original six movies.

Star Wars: Episode VII is set for theatrical release on December 18, 2015.

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